Leisure, Lifestyle and the New Middle Class

A Case Study

Derek Wynne

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• eBook ISBN: 9781134956517
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

In this valuable study, conducted within the theoretical context associated with the work of Pierre Bourdieu, Derek Wynne looks at how the 'new middle class' of the late twentieth century goes about constructing and defending its social identity.

1
INTRODUCTION

This study consists of an empirical analysis of residents living on a recently constructed housing estate which contains its own private leisure and sports facilities – The Heath. Without wishing to pre-empt a necessary discussion of these terms it can be characterised as a case study of the new middle class. It began as an attempt to monitor the use of the sports and leisure facilities that the residents of this large, private housing estate enjoy, and to discover whether the existence of such facilities produced greater levels of participation amongst them as compared to socioeconomically similar populations whose access to sports facilities were less readily available. However, in documenting the use of these facilities it soon became apparent that there were other, much more interesting activities to document in relating the role that such facilities played on The Heath.

There is a long history in community studies, and sociological investigation generally, of ‘things not being quite what they first seemed’. Personal accounts of, and reflections on, the research process are replete with stories of researchers finding themselves in situations which they had not planned for and reorienting their research activities (Wild, 1978; Bryson and Thompson, 1978). Indeed as Bell and Newby (1971) indicate in their review and discussion of the ‘community study as method’ such research method is best understood as a process during which the researcher(s) will inevitably be faced with decisions regarding the path to be followed next, the relative importance of one set of observations over another and the theoretical weight of the events that are recorded. Rather than seeing this as a problematic feature of the community study as method, it should be understood as a strength – in that it allows for, and encourages, a continual reflection on the research activity itself. Such ‘reflexive’ research processes as the community or case study have the advantage of making the social world studied ‘open’ to others who would wish to examine the results produced. It is through such transparency of method that the research community can modify, reject, support and build upon the findings of others. Within this context the research shifted focus to examine the wider social practices of the residents of The Heath and their relationship to the use of the recreational and sports facilities. Such practices involved first, the struggle over how the facilities should be used including the appropriateness of certain activities and second the relations between those who made use of the facilities and those who did not, including the perceptions of one by the other. Here the analysis of the leisure and recreational facilities on the estate can be likened to Wild’s discussion of Grange and the role of the Golf Club in Bradstow (Wild, 1978), although, at the same time, this study retains its focus on the contention that leisure or, more accurately, non-work practices are becoming increasingly important in contemporary society.

METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION

The methodology employed in any study will reflect the theoretical interests and concerns of the investigation. Yet, to assume that research methodologies lay themselves at the feet of the researcher, to be chosen solely on the grounds of efficacy or appropriateness to the investigation at hand is to disregard the varied epistemological positions associated with the discipline, and the ontological views that such positions both form and are formed by. Nowhere is this more clearly in evidence than in the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research. The former stresses the importance of an ‘understanding’ or verstehende approach in its epistemology, and an ontological view which sees human action as the principal concern of the researcher. As such research methodologies associated with obtaining an understanding of everyday life are paramount to such investigations. Ethnography, participant observation, life history and unstructured interviewing are the principal modes of data collection for such approaches. In contrast, quantitative research methods, particularly those associated with the mathematical or statistical modelling of data have tended to become associated with a sociology whose epistemological position sees human beings as operating within the constraints of institutional and organisational structures, and whose ontological view sees the examination of the relations between such structures as the researcher’s prime concern (Berger, 1966; Berger and Luckmann, 1971; Dawe, 1970 ). This study rejects such singular methodologies and argues for what Jenkins (1983:24) has termed a ‘methodological promiscuity’. Indeed given the theoretical orientation of this study, it is argued that such promiscuity is a necessary requirement of an analysis that attempts an understanding of social practices through a history of class composition and occupational restructuring, and in the context of contemporary cultural change.

The data for the study was collected in three ways: by ethnography, interview and questionnaire. The ethnography was conducted over a period of three years during which time I and my family were resident on the estate and participated in its social life including helping to staff the club for young people, playing tennis and squash, and drinking at the clubhouse bar. For many I was simply another resident of The Heath, who, because he was a sociologist, was particularly interested in what ‘people got up to in their spare time’.

Initially a number of formal, structured interviews with residents were envisaged, in part to examine some of the ideas that were emerging from the ethnography. However, as the ethnography proceeded it became obvious that such interviews could be undertaken more successfully as a part of the ethnography itself. As such, unstructured, in-depth interviews were undertaken, more as conversations in a series of natural settings. Indeed, on many occasions the ethnographic work and interviews became inseparable, particularly when members of group conversations began, without any prompting, to reflect upon their own and each other’s biographies.

The questionnaire was administered after most of the ethnographic work had been completed. It provided information on demographic detail, socio-economic origin and quantitative information regarding participation in leisure activities and membership of voluntary associations. In addition an assessment was made of the nature of friendship networks and sociability by asking a series of questions relating to visits to and from other households.

OUTLINE

One reason for expanding upon the original objective relates to developments in social theory, in particular the attempts of Pierre Bourdieu and Anthony Giddens to provide a route out of the theoretical cul de sac associated with arguments of primacy over structure and agency. On both the theoretical and empirical front Bourdieu’s work has contributed much to an understanding of the stratification processes in contemporary social life, and his conceptualisation of the habitus and social practice provide a link with Giddens’ concept of structuration which can be fruitfully explored. This study adopts a theoretical position closely associated with this body of work. It follows both Giddens and Bourdieu in attempting to examine the social world as created by agents located in time and space, and therefore located by, and productive of, particular sets of social practices. From a structuration position, these are seen as sometimes maintaining, and sometimes modifying, the systemic relations in which agents operate (Giddens, 1984). In addition to employing Giddens’ formulations of structure and system, the analysis employs Bourdieu’s concept of the ‘habitus’ in order to ‘place’ the varying social practices of agents in a wider social order. This approach is considered elemental in attempting to understand not only the varying social practices observed but also their cultural origins and the importance of the latter to social mobility.

Having re-focused initial intentions, and having already been engaged in participant observation work, it soon became apparent that those being studied occupied a place in the stratification hierarchy that was relatively under-researched, at least as far as empirical work is concerned. Following this introduction Chapter 2 examines some of the more pertinent work on the emergence of the new middle class in British society. Briefly stated these are, first, that oriented around Goldthorpe’s Social Mobility and Class Structure in Modern Britain (1987); second, what are termed ‘realist’ or ‘relational’ conceptualisations of class, and the debate that includes and surrounds both these and Goldthorpe’s work (Crompton, 1993); third, that part of a ‘post industrial society’ thesis (Bell, 1974) that argues for a changed relationship between work and leisure.

In the review of Goldthorpe’s work attention is paid to examining a number of different positions that have been developed from both neo-Marxist and Weberian perspectives. The discussion focuses on the extent to which social mobility can be seen as having been essentially created through the development of credentialism, or whether other factors also need to be examined. Such a discussion is considered particularly important in any attempt to explore the degree of homogeneity associated with the new middle class especially in attempting to examine the cultural practices of such a group(s).

While a number of authors including Goldthorpe (1982, 1987, 1995), Abercrombie and Urry (1983), Savage et al. (1992) and Butler and Savage (1995) have commented upon the rise of a service class, have statistically documented its emergence in British society and have written of its significance with respect to capitalism in the late twentieth century, few have conducted empirical work on the everyday lives of its members. Others have made important contributions in suggesting what such investigations might consider at the cultural level, notably Lash and Urry (1987) and Featherstone (1987). In The End of Organised Capitalism Lash and Urry develop a thesis that suggests that contemporary western societies have entered a period significantly different to that which previously characterised them as industrial societies. They argue that considerable deindustrialisation has taken place in the western world over the past twenty years, and that this has been accompanied by significant changes in social organisation. Their book examines the decline in what they term ‘organised capitalism’ and the associated demise of an industrial economy together with the ordered, stable and regulated relations between the trade unions, employers and the State. It looks towards a future centring on an increasingly deregulated, largely service economy, in which a flexible labour force, volatile capital flows and state ‘withdrawal’ from regulation characterises ‘disorganised capitalism’. In Chapter 9 of their book they examine some of the socio-cultural implications of their claims and point towards the emergence of the new middle class as providing a challenge to the traditional cultural practices of the old bourgeois.

To the extent that the subjects of this study might also be seen as a part of a new middle class or service class, it can also be seen as a case study that attempts to say something about a set of wider social processes associated with contemporary socioeconomic and cultural change. However, this study is not exclusively focused on such a service class as has been documented, but rather on a socially mobile class fragment, not all members of which have achieved their current socioeconomic positions through ‘credentialism’, that form of capital, to borrow a term from Bourdieu, most effectively obtained through higher education by the new middle class. Indeed, the extent to which a distinguishable service class can be identified, with regard to occupational activity, educational qualifications and cultural homogeneity, is the orienting theme of this study.

The setting is introduced in Chapter 3 where it is argued that The Heath can be seen as an example of the ‘new countryside’ produced by the spatial restructurings of a changing social structure (Relph, 1976; Gregory and Urry, 1985; Thrift, 1989) and an economic re-orientation from production to consumption (Saunders, 1986; Thrift and Williams, 1987). As such it is argued that the relationship to and identification with The Heath by its residents is problematic when considered in any traditional ruralurban context.

Following the community studies tradition the day-to-day lives of the population are examined, recording the way in which these daily experiences are structured and exploring the ways in which these experiences are made meaningful. The study documents the nature of the occupations in which residents are employed, together with the leisure practices that they construct and the extent to which such practices are related to their working lives. It considers the nature of the place in which they live and the way in which the ‘sense of place’ they have constructed relates to the work and leisure activities in which they engage.

The analysis of socio-structural characteristics includes features such as social origin, occupational status, educational level, age, gender and geographical mobility. The picture presented is of a new middle class of young/middle-aged ‘nuclear’ families. Many are highly educated and the majority of men are employed at the higher reaches of the occupational structure in managerial and professional occupations. Having established the theoretical concerns of this work in the previous chapter, this examination of the demographic structure and social origins of residents lays the foundation for further analysis of the relationships between these variables.

This is undertaken in Chapter 4 with particular reference to Bourdieu’s conceptual schema of social practice, the habitus, economic and cultural capital (1977, 1984, 1985). Here an attempt is made to locate Bourdieu’s work alongside the ‘realist’ position in the work of Abercrombie and Urry (1983), Lash and Urry (1987), Savage et al. (1992) and Butler and Savage (1995). Further analysis of the quantitative data shows that education, social origin and gender provide important distinguishing characteristics, and that these are further compounded when occupations are examined. Rather than an homogenous social grouping based on ‘credentialism’, the results suggest that it is heterogeneity that characterises the new middle class.

In Chapter 5 patterns of sociability are examined and the role of leisure in the social construction of identity is analysed. Particular attention is given to the social practices associated with the use of the recreational facilities available on the estate, the creation and membership of a variety of clubs and associations, and the diversity of residents’ leisure lifestyles. The concern is to discover the extent to which the heterogeneity uncovered in the previous chapter can be related to residents’ leisure practices and to examine further the contention that social position amongst the new middle class is best understood as being formed from processes associated with consumption rather than production. The analysis finds important differences in the ‘leisure lifestyles’ of residents according to social background, education and occupation.

The domestic household is examined in Chapter 6, and gender differentiations are analysed. With respect to Goldthorpe’s work a number of writers (Crompton, 1989) criticise the failure to explore the role played by females in the occupational structure and the effect that this may have on class location. Further, given the radical changes associated with the move towards service industries and the relative decline of heavy manufacturing industry, together with the increasing paid female labour force, it is argued that dual incomes may be an important feature of social mobility for some of the new middle class.

It has been suggested elsewhere (Edgell, 1980) that if the concept of the conjugal role has any validity, then it will be amongst the middle classes where traditional divisions of labour are most likely to begin to disappear. Edgell’s work was unambiguous in its refutation of this thesis. Similarly, recent work in the sociology of leisure (Deem, 1986; Green, Hebron and Woodward, 1987 and 1990) has also argued that the domestic division of labour effectively reduces women’s experience of leisure. The evidence from this study supports the thesis that much of women’s leisure can be considered ‘secondary’ and replicates, for the most part, the domestic divisions of labour discovered in other studies. At the same time it is argued that differentiations do exist, that they relate to those differences previously discovered and that they provide further evidence for the cultural fragmentation and heterogeneity of the new middle classes.

Chapter 7 presents the findings of the observational work conducted at the clubhouse on The Heath, which contains the sports and leisure facilities and acts as the principal public site for interaction amongst residents. The distinctions observed in the earlier chapters are contextualised within the ethnography of the clubhouse site. It is argued that it is the ‘practices of use’ (Bourdieu, 1984; de Certeau, 1984) of these facilities and, of course, their non-use, which help residents to position themselves and each other, within the setting. As such, the leisure practices outlined are practices by which these class fractions announce and establish their positions, and they reflect the positions of these class fractions in the changing economy.

In reviewing the study we argue that the structural and cultural fragmentation of the middle class is best understood not solely as productive of a ‘new middle class’ but rather as a process that has implications for the very concept of class itself. In this context our argument is not that social mobility has simply made the middle class ‘larger’ but that it has destroyed many of the common elements previously possessed by, or understandable as, the middle class. In relating these findings to the relationship between the concept of class and contemporary theorising (Giddens, 1991; Beck, 1992; Lash and Urry, 1994) it is suggested that some of the processes illustrated in this case study indicate a more complex cultural transformation than can be understood simply as a recomposition of the middle class.

2
LOCATING THE NEW MIDDLE CLASS

Chapter 2 provides an overview of some of the more pertinent work on the emergence of the new middle class in contemporary British society and is primarily oriented around the debate concerning the relationship between changes in the class structure and changes in the occupational structure as they pertain to social mobility (Goldthorpe, 1987). Here the intention is not to claim or offer this case study as a contribution to that debate as such but rather to review contemporary work in this area and comment upon its relevance to this project.

Clearly one could not hope to provide a definitive examination of the considerable variety of opinions regarding the changing nature of the British class structure. Recent authoritative work that reviews the many competing claims has been completed by a number of authors, notably Goldthorpe (1987) and Crompton (1993). By way of an introduction to our own concerns we can note those claims that relate to a changing class structure, social mobility and occupational change. The ideas of particular interest are fourfold. First, the amount and degree of social mobility in Britain since the 1950s. Second, the competing explanations of such mobility. Third, the degree to which changes in the occupational structure can be used to formulate explanations of change within the class structure. Finally, the degree of fluidity and openness in the contemporary class structure.

There is a consensus among writers concerned with these areas that the contemporary occupational structure of British society has undergone profound change, and that this change can be characterised by an increase in non-manual, white-collar and service occupations and a decrease in blue-collar, manual occupations. It is here that the agreement ends; in accounting for and commenting on such change a variety of competing explanations are offered which have their origins in classical social theory. For the most part such debate has centred on two related issues. First, the extent to which occupational change has affected the class structure and problematised particularly Marxist but also Weberian theory (Bottomore, 1965; Braverman, 1974; Giddens, 1973 and 1981; Goldthorpe, 1987; Roberts et al., 1977). Second, the appropriate conceptualisation of a new middle or service class and its potential for either fragmentation or homogeneity (Goldthorpe, 1982, 1987 and 1995, Roberts et al., 1977; Abercrombie and Urry, 1983; Lash and Urry, 1987; Savage et al., 1992; Butler and Savage, 1995). Of course, to account adequately for such work would require more space than is available here but an understanding of these debates is essential if we are to make sense of the emergence of the new middle class.

CLASS AND THE OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE

The principal concerns expressed can be summarised by examining some of the more prominent contributions to these debates. Such contributions would include, first, what has come to be known as the ‘buffer zone’ thesis expounded by Bottmore (1965); second, the ‘closure’ thesis associated with the work of Parkin (1979); third, that associated with the Oxford Social Mobility Group (Goldthorpe, 1987); fourth, that of ‘proletarianisation’ and ‘deskilling’ developed by Braverman (1974); fifth, the work associated with notions of ‘credentialism’ and argued by both Urry (1981; Abercrombie and Urry, 1983) and Giddens (1973); and finally, the thesis of ‘pluralist fragmentation’ developed by Roberts et al. (1977).

Of course not all of the above positions are mutually exclusive and it would be wrong to associate any one author’s view with a singular thesis, or indeed any one thesis with a singular author. However, for the purpose of clarity I think it is reasonable to suggest that certain writings could be said to be characterised primarily by one or more of the above perspectives.

The buffer zone thesis

The buffer zone thesis argues that, in spite of the movement from an occu...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Figures
• Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Locating the New Middle Class
• 3 The Heath: Setting and Structure
• 4 The Social Space of Mobility
• 5 The Social Space of Lifestyles
• 6 The Social Space of Gender
• 7 The Clubhouse
• 8 Conclusion
• Appendix
• Bibliography